PANAMA 


THE  ISTHMUS 
THE  CANAL 
THE  CHURCH 


BY  THE 

RT.  REV.  EDWARD  W.  OSBORNE,  D.D., 

Bishop  of  Springfield 


THE  BROAPWAY  OF  COLON 


PANAMA 

THE  ISTHMUS:  THE  CANAL;  THE  CHURCH 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  EDWARD  W.  OSBORNE,  D.D., 
BISHOP  OF  SPRINGFIELD 

The  photographs  were  supplied  by  A rchdeacon  Bryan , largely 
through  the  courtesy  of  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission 

While  on  his  way  to  the  West  Indies  in  February,  Bishop  Osborne  spent  a 
few  days  in  Panama.  His  account  of  his  observations  and  experiences,  writ- 
ten for  the  people  of  his  own  diocese,  has,  with  his  kind  permission,  been 
slightly  rearranged  and  shortened,  and  is  now  shared  with  the  readers  of 
The  Spirit  of  Missions. — [The  Editor.] 

1.  SOME  SIGHTS  ON  THE  ISTHMUS 


From  Broadway  to  Old  Spain 

The  varied  population  [in  Colon] 
was  very  interesting.  Many 
Americans  and  some  English 
wallcing  about,  but  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  people  from  pale 
Spanish  yellow  to  deep  West  Indian 
blacks.  Of  course  there  were  no  shop 
windows,  but  open  stores,  the  best  being 
kept  by  Chinese  merchants  who  have  had 
the  principal  trade  of  the  Isthmus  for 
years.  They  seem  to  be  thoroughly  re- 
spected. 

The  contrast  between  the  two  towns. 
Colon,  the  old  Spanish  one,  with  narrow 
streets  and  foreign  houses,  dirty  half- 
dressed  people  of  all  sorts,  and  Christo- 
bal,  the  new  American  town,  with  broad 
roads,  large  bird-cage  houses  and  rows 
of  palms,  is  very  great.  The  same  con- 
trast strikes  one  at  Panama  between  the 
old  town  of  that  name  and  the  new  An- 
con, just  outside.  It  is  curious  that  while 
the  whole  Canal  Zone,  forty-seven  miles 
long  and  ten  wide,  belongs  to  the  United 
States,  these  two  small  cities  at  either 
end  have  been  reserved  by  the  Republic 
of  Panama.  To  step  from  Broadway  or 
Fifth  Avenue  into  the  heart  of  Old 
Spain  is  a very  new  experience. 

Bird-Cage  Houses 

The  Isthmian  Canal  Commission  Hos- 
pital, at  Colon,  of  which  the  Rev.  E.  J. 


Cooper,  a Church  clergyman,  is  chap- 
lain; a collection  of  buildings,  some  of 
which  are  on  piles  over  the  sea,  and  all 
of  which  are  carefully  screened  to  keep  out 
the  mosquitoes,  giving  to  them,  as  to  the 
houses,  the  effects  of  great  bird  cages — • 
an  impression  one  never  loses.  Everyone 
lives  in  a bird  cage  from  end  to  end  of 
the  Isthmus.  Hotels,  private  houses  and 
quarters  for  workmen  all  are  alike,  so  that 
there  is  a vague,  dreamy,  unsubstantial 
look  about  them,  as  if  they  might  rise 
and  float  away.  And  yet  the  effect  is 
very  pretty  as  they  lie  on  the  hillsides, 
often  half  hidden  by  palms  and  tropical 
plants. 

The  Zone  from  a Car  Window 

The  railroad  journey  [from  Colon  to 
Panama]  gave  me  my  first  idea  of  the 
greatness  of  the  work  of  the  canal.  The 
massive  mounds  of  earth,  the  many  rail- 
road lines  at  Gatun,  the  new  town  with 
its  bright  looking  houses  and  other  large 
buildings,  made  a quite  new  impression. 
I had  not  expected  anything  so  well  laid 
out,  so  clean,  so  civilized,  and  so  full  of 
life  and  streng’th.  So  modern  too,  for  the 
people  who  got  out  at  the  station  might 
have  been  at  any  American  town. 
Ladles  w'ell  dressed  with  children,  girls 
with  parcels,  pictures  or  rolls  of  music, 
small  boys  running  about,  a few  men,  all 
alert,  talking,  laughing;  the  fringe  of 
dark  people  and  the  background  of  red 


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hills  with  the  light  looking  houses  dotted 
over  them,  all  gave  the  impression  of 
something  like  the  arrival  of  an  after- 
noon train  at  an  American  summer  re- 
sort not  far  from  some  large  town, 
whither  the  people  went  for  shopping. 
Certainly  all  this  on  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  was  unexpected,  but  one  felt  the 


ATLANTIC  OCEAN 


PACIFIC  OCEAN 


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American  is  at  home  here  under  this 
glorious  sky,  and  has  come  to  stay. 

As  we  went  along  we  saw  many  other 
new  things. 

Here  a village  of  native  Panamanians, 
built  of  rushes  and  bamboos,  a few 
women  and  children  in  light  costumes 
looking  carelessly  at  us;  there  a mass  of 
trees  flaming  in  color  reminding  one  of 


the  wonderful  “Flame  of  the  Forest”  that 
lights  up  the  woods  in  Burmah;  there 
again  acres  of  purple  morning  glories, 
here  a square  mile  of  bananas,  and  every- 
where many  varieties  of  palms  and  giant 
bamboos. 

Plere,  too,  the  troublesome  Chagres 
river,  so  winding  and  so  beautiful  be- 
tween its  green  banks,  and  yet  so  tough 
a problem  to  those  same  engineers.  It 
will  be  drowned,  problem  and  all,  in  this 
wonderful  lake.  Only  the  official  map 
can  give  an  idea  of  what  that  will  be. 

Before  our  journey  was  half  finished 
the  darkness  came  down  and  I had  time 
to  notice  the  people  in  the  car.  The  car 
itself  was  light  and  cool.  ISTo  velvet 
furnishings,  all  wood  and  rattan,  the 
seats  wide  enough  for  comfort.  Some  of 
the  passengers,  like  ourselves,  are  white, 
but  by  far  the  larger  number  are  of 
Spanish  color,  feature  and  language. 
There  are  cars  of  different  classes  and 
some  are  crowded  with  West  Indian  peo- 
ple of  varying  shades  of  blackness  with  a 
small  sprinkling  of  Hindoos.  But  there 
is  no  dulness  anywhere.  Every  face  is 
bright  and  eyes  are  keen  and  animated. 
All  is  life  and  movement.  All  through 
my  five  days  this  has  impressed  me.  No 
tropical  slowness  here,  but  a great  body 
of  energetic,  forceful  men  working 
vigorously  in  carrying  out  their  great 
purpose.  Every  train  is  full,  every  rail- 
road platform  with  waiting  numbers;  at 
some  stations  like  Culebra  on  Sunday 
afternoon  the  crowd  runs  into  hundreds. 


Another  Hospital 

The  Canal  Commission  Hospital  at 
Ancon  is  one  of  the  largest  and  certain- 
ly the  most  beautiful  in  the  world. 
Spread  out  on  the  side  of  Ancon  Hill, 
surrounded  with  cocoanut  palms  and 
other  tropical  trees,  with  a glorious  view 
of  the  bay  before  it,  it  has  800 
beds  in  thirty-four  wards.  Each  ward  is 
a separate  building  and  there  are  many 
others  for  administration,  nurses,  etc. 
Of  the  multitude  of  nurses,  125  are 
American  graduates.  It  was  new  to  see 


BUSY  STREET  IN  PANAMA  CITY 


the  brake  going  round  to  bring  the  nurses 
from  the  scattered  wards  to  the  dining- 
room for  meals,  or  taking  them  to  their 
wards  when  the  time  came  for  going  on 
duty.  A very  high  grade  of  nurses  they 
appeared  to  be. 

This  great  hospital  was  built  by  the 
French — ^another  surprise  for  me. 

A Strange  Sight  in  Panama  City 

A two  hours’  drive  showed  me  the 
principal  sights  of  old  Panama.  Here 
all  the  streets  are  narrow,  the  people  more 
varied  than  at  Colon  and  the  sound  of 
Spanish  is  everywhere. 

Some  of  the  Roman  churches  are 
large,  and  there  is  a certain  prettiness 
inside,  but  no  real  beauty  or  dignity,  for 
all  is  artificial,  paper  and  silver  gilt  in 
flowers  and  decorations,  with  very  few 
good  pictures.  The  square  is  pretty,  but 
it  was  quite  new  to  see  over  the  entrance 
to  a large  building  the  word  “Lotteria” 


with  many  people  offering  lottery  tickets 
for  sale,  and  then  to  be  told  that  this 
is  the  house  of  the  bishop,  that  he  lives 
over  the  lottery  offices  and  the  Roman 
Church  profits  $10,000  a year  by  the  lot- 
tery. The  prizes  are  drawn  on  Sunday 
after  High  Mass,  the  square  being  filled 
with  ticket  holders  who  have  come  out 
from  the  opposite  cathedral. 

A Canal  Zone  Clnh 

The  University  Club  [in  Panama], 
formerly  an  old  Spanish  house,  is 
now  the  home  of  graduates  from  al- 
most every  American  University.  Con- 
trasts make  things  seem  unreal,  and 
certainly  it  was  none  of  the  least 
to  step  out  of  noisy  Spanish  streets  into 
this  large,  cool  room  with  a hundred 
American  papers  on  the  tables  and  the 
walls  decorated  with  the  familiar  pen- 
nants of  Illinois,  Harvard,  Yale,  Cornell 
and  nearly  fifty  others. 


II.  THE  CANAL  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  ARE  CUTTING 
TWO  CONTINENTS  APART 


A Day  Along  the  Line 

Six  o’clock  breakfast,  and  by  half  past 
seven  we  were  at  Culebra  at  the  house  of 
Major  Gaillard,  where  a second  light 
breakfast  awaited  us.  Colonel  Gorgas, 
the  chief  of  all  the  sanitary  work  and 
the  foe  of  the  mosquito,  most  kindly 
went  with  us. 

Major  Gaillard  had  his  auto-car  ready 
for  us.  With  him  and  Colonel  Gorgas  we 
were  indeed  in  royal  company,  and  no 
one  had  ever  a better  opportunity  of  see- 
ing and  understanding  the  great  canal 
and  what  it  involves. 

We  went  from  one  end  of  the  great 
cut  to  the  other,  having  everything 
worthy  of  note  pointed  out  to  us  with 
wonderful  clearness  and  infinite  pains. 

The  respect  our  engineers  show  for  the 
Frenchmen  is  very  marked.  They  say 
that  their  work  was  thorough,  their  plans 
and  drawings  and  measurements  perfect- 
ly accurate  and  capable  of  use  to-day. 
They  express  the  greatest  sympathy  for 


those  men  who  through  no  fault  of  their 
own  were  compelled  to  stop  a work  begun 
so  well.  Their  attitude  toward  the 
French  gave  me  an  increased  respect  for 
themselves. 

Big  Men  and  a Big  Tash 

Their  own  attitude  toward  the  work 
struck  me  as  the  quiet  confidence  of  men 
who  have  tested  and  know  their  strength. 
“We  can  finish  this  work  if  the  money  is 
only  given.”  In  how  long  a time? 
“Over  six  years  and  less  than  eight.” 
And  at  what  expense?  “At  less  than 
the  present  estimate  of  $300,000,000.  It 
will  not  cost  that  unless  something  now 
unforeseen  occurs.” 

The  calm,  quiet  way  in  which  Major 
Gaillard  described  two  great  works  was 
really  amusing.  When  he  showed  us  the 
great  landslide  which  overwhelmed  the 
whole  width  of  the  cut  at  one  point,  he 
spoke  so  simply  of  how  it  happened  and 
how  it  was  removed  and  the  measures  ta- 


ken  to  prevent  a recurrence,  that  the 
tremendous  work  seemed  just  like  a 
small,  every-day  occurrence. 

So,  too,  when  I asked  what  a certain 
work  was  for.  “Oh,  that  is  the  new  bed 
we  are  making  for  the  Eiver  Obispo.  It 
interferes  with  the  canal,  so  we  are 
cutting  it  a new  channel.” 

“And  how  large  is  the  river?” 

“Well  there’s  not  much  water  now,  but 
when  full  it  is  about  the  size  of  the  Po- 
tomac at  Washington.  Anywhere  else  it 
would  be  a big  work,  but  not  here.  It 
will  cost  about  a million  of  dollars 
though.” 

Such  a simple  thing  to  do  it  seemed, 
and  not  a word  of  boasting. 

The  steam  shovels  are  a marvel.  Two 
tons  at  a mouthful  picked  up  and  placed 
on  a car,  and  a fresh  mouthful  every  six- 
teen seconds!  Over  a million  cubic 
yards  of  earth  moved  last  month ! 

The  Sanitary  Engineers 

Colonel  Gorgas  pointed  out  the  sani- 
tary work  and  where  the  real  dangers  lie. 
Someone  told  me  that  of  the  35,000  men 
on  the  work,  2,000  are  employed  in  keep- 
ing all  clean  for  health’s  sake.  . . . 

There  is  no  fever  at  Culebra,  no,  nor 
in  all  the  Zone!  Xor  a mosquito  either! 
Deadly  war  has  been  waged  against  mos- 
quitos, their  homes,  favorite  resorts  and 
breeding  places,  and  now  truly  the  Canal 
Zone  might  almost  be  a health  resort.  It 
is  doubted  if  the  French  could  have  fin- 
ished the  canal  for  want  of  knowledge  of 
sanitation — the  dead  they  buried  are  in 
thousands  beyond  counting;  but  if  we  fin- 
ish it — and  we  shall — the  honor  to  the 
medical  members  of  the  Canal  Commis- 
sion will  be  as  great  as  that  of  the  en- 
gineers. 

America"’ s Best  Men 

What  men  one  sees  here  at  work ! 
Tall,  well  set-up,  open-faced,  bronzed  by 
the  sun,  and  yet  so  clean  and  healthy 
looking,  keen  in  look  and  vigorous  in 
every  movement,  an  exhibition  of  the 
best  type  of  young  American  manhood, 
such  as  you  might  see  at  Yale,  Cornell 


or  Harvard.  Not  all  young,  but  older 
strong-faced  men  also.  Such  a repre- 
sentation of  the  American  nation  must 
make  a wonderful  impression  on  the 
people  of  this  Isthmus.  . . . The 

United  States  has  sent  of  its  best  to  build 
the  Panama  Canal. 

I cannot  be  too  grateful  to  Colonel 
Gorgas  and  Major  Gaillard  for  their 
courtesy  and  kindness,  and  for  showing 
me  what  manner  of  men  our  army  en- 
gineers and  officers  are.  Rarely  have  I 
spent  so  good  a morning  and  learned  so 
much  in  so  short  a time.  The  sight  of 
that  great  Culebra  cut  will  remain  with 


me,  and  when  I think  that  it  is  yet  to  go 
125  feet  deeper,  I wish  I may  be  there  to 
see  it  when  finished. 

Finished  it  surely  will  be.  It  is  im- 
possible for  one  who  has  seen  and  heard, 
as  I have,  to  believe  that  the  nation  could 
refuse  to  finish,  and  could  stop  such  a 
work  for  want  of  money. 

The  same  thought  came  to  me  when  I 
saw  the  towns  built  up  throughout  the 
Zone;  no  tents  for  a night,  but  buildings 
meant  to  stay.  Christobal,  Gatun,  Gor- 
gona,  Empire,  will  all  be  as  familiar 
names  in  the  future  as  Panama  and 
Culebra  are  now. 


THE  CHAPEL  IN  THE  ANCON  HOSPITAL  WHERE  CHURCH  SERVICES  ARE 
BEING  HELD  UNTIL  A BETTER  BUILDING  CAN  BE  SECURED 

III.  THE  CHETRCH  AT  WORK  IN  THE  ZONE 

mun  and  the  every-colored  Spaniard 
with  a quiet  Sikh  from  far-off  Punjab 
watching  them. 

The  chapel  here  is  erected  by  the  canal 
commissioners  for  the  use  of  the  Church. 
There  are  a number  of  these  in  the  Canal 
Zone,  some  used  by  the  Church  only, 
others  used  in  turn  by  various  religious 
bodies  who  have  representatives  here. 

In  all  these  places  the  work  is  under 


An  American  Town  and  a 
Spanish  Village 

Gorgona  is  one  of  the  new  American 
towns  almost  surrounding  the  old  Span- 
ish village,  and  given  up  to  machine 
shops  and  works  for  the  canal.  Bird- 
cage houses  and  mud  huts  jostle  one  an- 
other and  the  alert  American  strides  by 
the  black  West  Indian,  the  yellow  China- 


‘THE  STEAM  SHOVELS  ARE  A MARVEL.  TWO  TONS  AT  A MOUTHFUL,  AND  A FRESH  MOUTHFUL  EVERY  SIXTEEN  SECONDS  !” 


the  care  of  catechists  who  came  from  the 
English  Church  in  Jamaica  or  Barbados 
and  are  now  working  under  Archdeacon 
Bryan.  There  has  been  some  little  feel- 
ing among  the  people  from  the  British 
West  India  Islands  about  their  transfer 
to  the  care  of  the  Ameiucan  Church,  the 
want  of  knowledge  of  our  Church  with 
its  unlucky  name  being  the  cause.  The 
coming  of  myself  has  been  in  one  way 
better  as  the  first  visitor  of  the  American 
bishops  than  that  of  almost  any  other 
bishop  could  have  been. 

To  see  me,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  a 
deacon  and  priest  of  the  English  Church, 
and  a bishop  of  the  American  Church, 
one  who  has  ministered  in  Eng- 
land, America,  India  and  Africa,  from 
which  countries  many  derive  their  an- 
cestry, was  a great  object  lesson  of  the 
j actual  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
however  cosmopolitan  its  units  might  be. 
® The  archdeacon  and  the  people  alike  wel- 
corned  my  words  on  this. 

§ We  had  a good  congregation  with 
p sweet  singing,  many  Spanish  and  Indian 
people  looking  in  at  the  wide-open  win- 
o dow  places.  Nineteen  were  confirmed, 
§ six  being  young  girls  and  the  rest  men 
<5  and  women,  about  an  equal  number  of 

« each. 

a 

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“ From  Illinois  to  Panama  for 
Confirmation 

In  the  Ancon  Hospital  a large  room 
is  fitted  up  as  a chapel,  and  here  I cele- 
brated the  Holy  Communion  at  7 a.m. 
Sunday. 

At  10  A.M.  I confirmed  six,  four  being 
American  ladies,  with  one  boy  and  one 
girl.  A gentleman  was  prevented  from 
coming  by  an  emergency  call  on  canal 
work.  Among  those  confirmed  was  a 
lady  from  near  Joliet,  111.,  who  was 
obliged  to  come  away  with  her  husband 
just  before  the  bishop’s  visit  at  her 
home.  The  congregation  filled  the  room, 
doctors,  nurses,  judges,  lawyers,  army  en- 
gineers, clerks  and  ladies,  representatives 
of  all  the  official  and  American  society 
being  present.  After  the  confirmation 


and  sermon  there  was  a celebration,  with 
about  twenty-five  communicants. 

At  Culebra  many  met  us  at  the  station. 
At  the  service  the  crowd  could  not  be 
counted.  The  chapel  on  the  hillside 
stood  on  a platform,  this  and  the  chapel 
being  packed  so  tight  that  entrance  was 
difficult.  Surely  the  hymns  could  be 
heard  miles  away.  Hot  as  it  was,  all 
listened  eagerly  to  the  sermon  and 
watched  intently  the  confirmation.  Six- 
teen men  and  fourteen  women  knelt  for 
the  gift.  By  some  mistake  some  candi- 
dates from  Bas  Obispo  (Low  Bishop) 
did  not  come. 

A Cmwded  Service 

The  evening  service  at  St.  Paul’s, 
Panama,  cannot  well  be  described,  nor 
could  it  be  photographed.  Probably  there 
Avere  less  than  a thousand  at  it,  but  they 
looked  more.  The  big  church  was  solid, 
the  choir  squeezing  in  one  by  one,  the 
mass  opening  to  let  each  one  in  and  clos- 
ing at  once  behind  him.  The  utmost  re- 
spect for  the  “Lord  Bishop” — ^and  their  ro- 
spect  is  very  great — tcould  only  secure  him 
ten  inches  of  gangway  to  reach  his  chair. 
WindoAvs,  doors,  churchyard,  street,  the 
shining  earnest  faces  above  the  Avhite  gar- 
ments and  black  coats  made  a billowy 
sea,  and  a sea  that  at  boiling  heat  was 
hushed  to  perfect  stillness  to  hear  the 
message  brought  by  the  bishop  from 
America.  I shall  not  forget  the  sight. 
TAventy-tAvo  Avere  confirmed.  It  Avas  im- 
possible to  take  the  throngs  by  the  hand. 


but  I Avas  glad  to  find  in  the  congrega- 
tion a brother  of  David  Jonathan  Lee,  a 
candidate  for  Holy  Orders  in  my  dio- 
cese. The  wife  and  daughter  were  there 
also. 

A short  train  ride  on  Monday  brought 
us  to  Bas  Obispo,  where  on  a hillside  we 
found  a neat  little  church  surrounded  by 
tropical  trees,  with  a congregation  of 
thirty  aAvaiting  us  with  the  four  who  had 
missed  their  confirmation  on  Sunday. 

A Pressing  Need 

I hope  Archdeacon  Bryan  may  find 
someone  to  help  him,  some  of  the  altar 
societies  in  great  city  churches  perhaps. 
All  these  chapels  are  very  poorly  provided 
with  everything  for  use  at  the  altar. 
Vessels,  furniture,  linen,  hangings,  even 
altars,  all  are  wanting. 

Evening  found  us  at  Colon  for  my  last 
service  in  the  beautiful  Christ  Church, 
far  finer  than  any  in  the  Diocese  of 
Springfield.  Here  was  perhaps  the  most 
beautiful  service  of  all.  A full  church, 
a reverent  service,  some  thirty-five  to  be 
confirmed,  of  whom  one  was  a Chinaman, 
an  air  of  earnestness  and  devotion  over 
all  making  a spirit  that  could  be  felt. 

I thank  God  for  all  I have  heard  and 
seen  in  the  last  five  days. 

The  American  Church  has  now  an  op- 
portunity in  this  Zone  to  take  up  the 
work  the  English  Church  has  well  begun 
and  establish  herself  as  the  Church  of 
the  Panama  Canal  Zone. 


leaflet  may  be  obtained  from  the  Corresponding  Secretary, 
Fourth  Avenue,  New  York,  by  calling  for 


LEAFLET  No.  1700 

^ All  offerings  for  Missions  should  be  sent  to  Mr.  George  C.  Thomas, 
Treasurer,  Church  Missions  House,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York.  ^ o 

^ The  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York.  0000000 


First  Edition.  May,  1908.  2M.  SP. 


